From the feedback we've heard, everyone seems to love learning new folds. This fold is really cool looking. It folds up to a 4" square, which will still fit into an A2 envelope, so it is ok for OWH cards. Just be careful to leave enough surfaces with light cardstock or lining so our heroes will have room to write.

Start with a 4" x 12" piece of cardstock for your base. On the back side of the cardstock, lightly mark the mid point (6" mark) at the top and bottom of the cardstock. (Click on any illustration to see it larger.)

Fold the bottom edge of the cardstock so that it lines up with the center mark. This will look like a paper airplane.

Note: Be very careful to make sure the ends line up evenly, or your card will be crooked and you won't realize it until the last step. (This is the kind of advice you can only give after you've screwed up a card base!)

Repeat this folding from the top down, so that you end up with crossing crease marks. Use a bone folder or the rounded edge of a stamp to "iron" the edges and make your creases sharp.

Fold each end of the card so that the edge lines up with the X where the creases meet. You will end up with crease marks that look like this:

While the end is still folded forward, fold your edge to the center mark on the back of your card. This will put a new crease mark at the X where the first folds met.

Now you should have all the creases above. You can see the center diamond will be the popped forward face of your card. In order to pop it forward, you will pinch the folds on either side of the diamond (see the circles below), so that those creases fold in. (This reminds me of making those paper question/answer toys we used to make when we were kids.)

Now the base is ready for decorating!

I thought it would be fun to use the same designer paper for my two sample cards, and make one masculine and one feminine. If you're interested in learning to make the dahlia fold in the example above, the tutorial is here. If you're interested in learning to make the pinwheel below, the tutorial is here.

Here's the youtube video that inspired me to post today's tutorial.

If you have a suggestion for a tutorial, or would like to share one of your own with us, please email me at kate@operationwritehome.org. Give this diamond fold a try and let us know what you think.

Thanks for the question, Adele! I used light colored cardstock so the entire back of the card is available for writing on. Even if they don't want to write "between the folds," the center portion on the reverse is 4x4 and each of the end panels is 4x2.